Galiant
by DarkInkWriter
Summary: The Black has new competion, but what happens when The Black suffers a fatal injury? And what does the strange horse, Galiant, have to do with it?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I Don't own The Black Stallion, Alec, or Henry. Other character's I created.

Prologue.

The blood dripped from The Black's withers, Alec, Henry, and the vet could only stand by and make the horse as comfortable as possible. The veterinarian put his hand on Henry's shoulder and motioned for him to come speak with him for a moment.

"Henry, I do not know how long The Black can stay like this. His breath is already shortening. The boy has to make a decision now. What do you say?" Dr. Gregory sighed.

"He is Alec's horse. It's his decision. Let's ask him." Henry turned and walked back into the barn. "Well Alec, you have to decide now, what will you do? Think about what's best for The Black."

"He can make it, you'll see." Alec replied. At that same moment, The Black let out a shrill whinny and let out a loud breath and then no more...

Notes: Sorry it's short, It's just a prologue. I'll get the actuall first chapter soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Black Stallion, but this story line and most of the characters are mine.**

**Note: Ok, here is the actual chapter 1. Hope you like it.**

One year earlier…

Rain fell heavily upon the stable roof. It was nearly midnight and had been storming non-stop for hours. Most of the stalls were flooded and the horses spooked. Lightning lit up the dark night sky, and for a second you could see the mahogany bay Thoroughbred stallion running through the pasture.

"That horse has been at it for days. No one has been able to get him in since they brought him here. I don't know what Mr. Fred is going to do about him." The stable hand, Jack, told his younger sister, Kate. She had followed him without permission to The Alger's Stable because she wanted to see the Alger's new stallion, Galiant. Jack had been talking about nothing else for two weeks now. Kate could see why. The horse was a natural beauty.

"Jack? Why did they name him Gallant?" Kate asked.

"It's Galiant. I guess they just liked how he fit the name. Come on, we should get home, if mom wakes up she'll freak."

The sudden sound of hooves on the stable ground made Jack stop and turn. Staring him in the face were two dark brown eyes. Both of them alight with fire. Jack stepped back slowly, telling Kate to get behind him and into the nearest empty stall and to close the door. Galiant lunged forward, knocking Jack to his feet. Jack got up just in time to see the horse's black tail whip out the door.

"Mr. Fred, wake up." Jack was banging on the door to the stable owner's house. Kate was standing behind him, clutching his jacket and crying. The light went on overhead and he heard locks being undone.

"Jack? What is it boy?" The course voice belonged to Mr. Alger.

"Your new horse, Galiant, is out. I don't know how, but he just ran down Hoger Street." Mr. Alger's face darkened. He grabbed his coat, put on his work boots, and got his keys. "Come on."

Fog was deepening as they drove on down the road. Kate had been dropped off at home and it was just Jack and Mr. Alger. Even with the fog lights on, they couldn't see five feet in front of them.

"Look. Over there, I saw something move." They turned down an old dirt road as Jack pointed out where he had seen some brush move. It was still moving when they heard a gun shot go off along the road. Mr. Alger's sped down the road, until they came upon an old wooden house, if you could call it that; there were no lights on and no one appeared to be living in it, but they got out to look around.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Some noise came from a group of trees beyond the house, but Jack didn't see anything. The fog kept them from going to far out, but they knew that this is where the gunshot came from. Just as they were starting to leave, a man walked out of the house holding a smoking shotgun.

"What are you doing here? Go away." He yelled at them. Then aiming the gun at the ground near the truck, he shot at an empty can of beer. "Get out of here, or I'll shoot you."

**Note: Ok, so it's shorter than I wanted. Well, tell me if you like it so far.**


	3. Chapter 2 Fate is Sealed!

**Disclaimer: No I don't own The Black Stallion!**

**Authors note: Hey guess what Jessie-Chan, I updated!! **

**WARNING: This chapter has some gory detail so please don't read if you are at all sensitive!! If you scare easily you may just want to wait for the next chapter…. Jessie-Chan, this chapter isn't exactly for you, but you can read it, but don't like freak out.**

Chapter 2. Fate is sealed!

Jack woke, drenched with sweat, lying in his bed. He inclined his head an inch to look at his clock. It read 2:37 am. _Too early_, he thought and closed his eyes, but he found that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not go back to sleep.

He sighed as he sat up and looked around, it was too dark to really see, but he could make out the shapes of his small television and his stuffed bookshelf. Leaning over, he clicked his lamp on and blinked until he could see properly. Groaning, he placed his feet on the floor and stood. As he glanced out the window, he could see that the rain had let up and the fog had cleared.

Pulling his jacket on, he tiptoed out of his room, through the kitchen, and onto the back porch. He could not stop thinking about Galiant and every noise he heard he hoped it was the stallion. He stepped off of the porch and headed for the road, going north towards the old wooden house where he knew that the horse was.

Once he got to the muddy road, he left the road and walked beside the muddy way so that he was somewhat hidden by bushes and trees. When he arrived at the "house" he saw that there was a dim, flickering light in one of the windows. Approaching the house quietly, he went to the window and peeked inside, what he saw horrified him.

There, tied down in the middle of the room, was Galiant. His head was strapped down to the floor and all four legs were tied so that they lay straight out in front and back. There was also a strap across his back that disappeared into the wooden floor. A man stood with his back to the window, but when he turned Jack saw that he was holding a large knife covered with blood. Only then did he notice the long, gaping wound from the withers down to right about his hoof. Jack winced and looked at the man again, but the man had disappeared from Jack's sight.

Backing away, Jack glanced from side to side and saw deep in the shadows, the outline of a man. Thankfully the man did not see him, but instead he headed out to a shed far from the house. _Now is my chance,_ and with that he swiftly and quietly entered the house. Looking around, he almost retched; there were jars of ancient looking liquids everywhere in the kitchen. He practically fell into the living area where the stallion was. Now he could see the full extent of his injuries, his other front leg had a wound almost identical to the other; only this one was a little worse and already covered with maggots.

There was a big chunk missing from his flank and his tail was matted with blood and sweat.

"Oh you poor beast." Jack whispered. Only then did Galiant notice that Jack was there, and after the stallion had struggled with all his might and given up, Jack took a chance and approached the horse. The fear in Galiant's eyes was so hopeless that Jack knew he would never again trust humans, but Jack also knew he had to get him out now.

"Hush now, poor thing, shhhh. Easy dear, easy." Jack whispered as soothingly as he possibly could knowing how in a hurry he was. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife, not letting Galiant see because he knew what the stallion would think. The first thing Jack cut was the strap holding down his head. He stroked the beast's head slowly as he worked on his leg straps. _The poor thing is too weak to even protest_, Jack sighed.

When all four legs had become free, Jack turned slowly and began cutting through the thick strap around his middle. When he was half way through, footsteps could be heard coming up the porch. Swearing, Jack finished cutting the strap and forced Galiant to stand. Checking to make sure that the horse could at least walk enough not to fall, Jack started looking for an alternative route out. He saw a large back door that Galiant could fit through.

As he led Galiant over to the door and slid the lock out from its hold, the front door opened and the man stepped into the kitchen. Quickly, Jack sped through the door with Galiant stumbling behind. He closed the door and led the horse into the woods and headed towards the main road. When he and the horse were safely covered by the shadow of the trees, an angry yell came from the direction of the house. Then he heard a door bang open and heavy footsteps walking around the house.

Jack knew that Galiant should not be moving in his condition, but he had a feeling that if they lagged even a bit they would both be killed. Finally Jack saw the main road, but he stayed in the cover of trees. He did not know if the man was following or not.

After what seemed like hours of walking and stumbling, for the horse, Jack came upon the Alger's stables. He went straight for the stable and put Galiant into a stall. The stallion immediately fell down on the hay and closed his eyes. Knowing time was critical, Jack raced out to the house.

"What now boy?" Mr. Alger grumbled after he opened the door.

"Follow." Was all Jack could get out and he ran back to the stable.

"Oh my go…" Mr. Alger cried out after he saw Galiant. Then he ran out to call the emergency vet.

Fifteen minutes later…

The vet had arrived and even though he said there was no hope, Jack had insisted on at least trying, so Galiant's wounds were all treated and bound. No one would have ever gotten close to Galiant if he hadn't been so dangerously close to death. After the vet was sure the bleeding had stopped and had given Galiant a mild sedative so he would sleep, the three sat down so Jack could tell what happened.

Once the story was told, Mr. Alger called the police and they came and heard Jack's tale and left immediately with backup to the old wooden house. They returned later with the news that the man was nowhere to be found, but there was enough evidence still at his house to press charges and their team had taken pictures.

Finally, Jack laid back in his own bed with the covers pulled up and closed his eyes. The police had searched both His and Mr. Alger's houses to make sure the man had not followed them, and they had also set up patrols along all the roads. He sighed and fell asleep.

**Authors note: So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am sorry about this chapter, but I just really wanted to write something dark and this was it. And it helps me move the story along so I will HOPEFULLY update more!**


	4. Chapter 3 Maybe There's Hope

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Stallion of course **

**Author's note: ….wow it's been a very long time since I have updated any of my stories! I'm in college now and have a little more free time so I am hoping to possibly pick my stories back up or just start new ones! Of course I will probably be a little rusty getting back into writing. I re-read the chapters I have written in this story so far and I believe when I wrote my last chapter(the somewhat disturbing one) I had just got finished watching the Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or something along those lines… Anyways here's another chapter, hope you enjoy **

Chapter 3. Maybe There's Hope

"Yeah, poor beast went through hell a few nights ago, probably won't ever trust anyone again. I just hope they catch the sick man who did this." Mr. Alger was on the phone when Jack arrived at the stable a couple days later. Jack gave him a questioning look that was answered only with a curt nod, so Jack walked past him to look into Galiant's stall. The horse was as far away from the front of the stall as possible and glared at Jack with distrustful eyes as the boy looked him over. What he saw made him wonder what possible reason he had to plead the vet to give Galiant a chance to recover when the kindest act would be to put him down. With a despondent sigh, Jack turned away from that fearful gaze and forced himself to start his duties around the stable.

After mucking out the numerous stalls, feeding the horses, and scrubbing and refilling all the water buckets, Jack decided to give Galiant one last look over before heading back for his home-schooling lessons. This time he stood on the other side of the stable against the adjacent stall so he didn't scare the horse. Galiant looked so weak, but still held a defiant look in his eyes that was just reinforced with his new fear of people. He hadn't touched any feed since that dark night and only drank enough to survive. Jack turned to see Mr. Alger glaring at him for no apparent reason, still on the phone listening to whoever was on the other end.

"Yes. That might be best. I just don't see how he'll trust people after this. The vet checked and said the wounds stopped bleeding and there are no signs of infection, but he will always remain fearful. Mhm… yeah I agree…. Well, once he has completely healed you head our way and check him over, see if you can do anything for him, but if you can't, I will probably see to it that he is put out. Ok, thanks Henry." Jack heard one side of the conversation, which made him hope there was at least some chance for Galiant before Mr. Alger made up his mind. If only he could help in some way.

"Well boy," Mr. Alger spoke. "I have an old friend who is willing to come out here and see about Galiant, see if there is anything he can do for him. Once the horse's wounds are healed he'll be coming down and I don't want you getting in his way you hear? Go about your normal duties like always but leave that stallion to him, don't go trying any funny business of your own." With that, he walked out of the stable, leaving Jack alone with the badly injured and emotionally scarred horse. _Funny Business? Did Mr. Alger think he was THAT stupid, to go messing around with a stallion like Galiant? _Jack kicked at some hay on the ground, huffed, and began the short walk home.

**Author's note: Well... I hope you enjoyed this short chapter, even though it didn't really have much to it. I'm going to try to write a longer chapter after this that really helps move the story along. Thanks**


	5. Chapter 4 Guardian Angel

**Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own it… sorry ^.^**

**Author's note: Alright I am determined to make this a somewhat longer chapter so I am only posting it after it is longer than the last one. Hope you enjoy J**

Chapter 4. Guardian Angel

After that day, Jack spent every moment he could spare at the stables so he could check on Galiant. Even though Mr. Alger told him not to try anything on his own, Jack began to attempt to gain Galiant's trust. He felt a deep connection with the horse since he was the one who rescued him, and he could only hope Galiant recognized that Jack would never do anything to hurt him. When Jack first arrived at the stables every morning, he would go past Galiant without looking at or acknowledging him and begin his morning work. After awhile Jack started to notice Galiant would watch him as he went about the stable doing the same routine every day, and he realized the horse was rather irked that he was being ignored completely. So Jack added the occasional glance at Galiant to his constant routine hoping the horse would notice. It worked. Now whenever Jack glanced at him, Galiant would snort angrily and turn away so the boy could only see his rear, payback for the times Jack had been ignoring him it would seem.

Jack decided every moment he could spare wasn't enough so he asked his mom if she would mind if he took his school work with him to the stables. From then on, Jack would sit against the adjacent stall after finishing his chores and read his school books aloud so Galiant could hear his voice. Every once in awhile Galiant would mosey on over to the front part of his stall to look out at the boy as he read, but as soon as Jack would look up Galiant moved back to the far side again. This made Jack chuckle, and he hatched a plan for the next time Galiant looked over while he read. So when Galiant looked out at the boy next, Jack didn't look up right away but watched him out of the corner of his eye. Then he pulled a fresh red apple from his backpack and took a slow bite. Galiant's ears pricked forward at the sight of the apple and he stomped the ground in anticipation. When Galiant realized he would not be getting any part of that apple, he blew hot air through his nose and let out a loud snort of irritation. Jack then slowly brought his eyes up to look at Galiant to see what he would do, and for once the horse did not move away from his gaze. He didn't want to push his luck so all Jack did was watch Galiant for a few days before trying anything more.

"Algebra, Galiant, is not a fun subject. I've never been very fond of math myself, I bet you could be better at it than I am." Jack spoke to Galiant in a way he would any one of his friends, not that he had many of those. He began reading some of his problems aloud to try and make sense of them, when Mr. Alger walked into the stable. Galiant noticed him first and quickly moved to the back of his stall away from the unfamiliar man, eyes wide with fear.

"What are you doing Jack? I thought I told you not to mess with that horse." Mr. Alger uttered a swear under his breath and made his way towards where Jack sat. "Now look here boy, Henry will be coming next week to look that horse over and I do not want you getting in the way. Period. So whatever it is you think you are doing, it stops once Henry arrives you understand?"

"Yes sir, only trying to help. I really think Galiant might be starting to trust me, but I will stay out of Henry's way while he's here." Jack spoke with confidence to show he wasn't afraid of Mr. Alger, he knew the man meant well for the most part, he just didn't know how to show it. Mr. Alger grunted and walked out of the stable, leaving Jack to find some way to calm Galiant down.

The next day, as Jack passed Galiant's stall during his chores, he dropped a slice of apple into the stall and kept walking. Then when he read his books aloud that same day, with Galiant standing there silently listening to his soft voice, Jack took a chance and stood up slowly with his apple out and took one step towards the stall. Galiant's ears laid flat on his head as soon as Jack took that first step, so Jack stopped and called soothingly to the horse and showed him the apple he had. Galiant tossed his head in anger but did not step away from the stall, so Jack took one more step and kept going this time, making his way slowly forward. He stopped an arm's length away and watched Galiant's reaction. His ears were still pinned back and he was breathing heavily, so Jack simply held out the apple as far as he could reach to see if Galiant would take it from him If he still stood back. Galiant sniffed at the apple then stretched his neck out to grab it swiftly from Jack's hand so the boy couldn't try to touch him, but it was enough for Jack, at least for now, he felt that Galiant knew Jack would not hurt him and would always be here to watch over him.

**Author's note: Ok soooo well I actually rather like this chapter. It isn't as long as I had hoped but I got what I wanted in it so I'm happy with it. Hope you enjoyed it. J**


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